With a signature blend of action, humor and character-based spectacle, the saga of the world’s toughest, kitten-loving hero continues to unfold in Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Bigger muscle, badder weapons and more ungodly villains arrive in an epic vision of imagination from Oscar®-nominated director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy).

After an ancient truce existing between humankind and the invisible realm of the fantastic is broken, hell on Earth is ready to erupt. A ruthless leader who treads the world above and the one below defies his bloodline and awakens an unstoppable army of creatures. Now, it’s up to the planet’s toughest, roughest superhero to battle the merciless dictator and his marauders. He may be red. He may be horned. He may be misunderstood. But when you need the job done right, it’s time to call in Hellboy (Ron Perlman).

Along with his expanding team in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense—pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz (Selma Blair), aquatic empath Abe (Doug Jones) and protoplasmic mystic Johann—the BPRD will travel between the surface strata and the unseen magical one, where creatures of fantasy become corporeal. And Hellboy, a creature of two worlds who’s accepted by neither, must choose between the life he knows and an unknown destiny that beckons him.

I voted Excellent in lieu of letter grades due to poll options.
My letter grade would be A-

This is a really good movie. I enjoyed it much more than the first. Del Torro really has chosen projects that allow him to fully realize the things he is good at as director. His resume and experienc since the first Hellboy have added to make this installment that much richer.

The movie starts with a flashback scene to 1955 where a young Hellboy still being raised by John Hurts fatherly Trevor character and is recounting the story of The Golden Army as a bed time story. This of course does a few things. Allows Hurt to be in the movie cause he was critical in the first, sets up what the golden army is and shows us Hellboy as a child with all the trappings of any child.

We move to the present where an auction is being held. Up for bid is a piece of the royal crown. The exiled prince needs all 3 pieces of the crown to activate the Golden Army. His father had broken up the crown which controlled the mechanical army after a truce with the humans hundreds of years ago.

He needs his fathers piece and his twin sisters piece so he sets off to obtain them. Meanwhile the auction raid has set the B.P.R.D. on the trail of what exactly may be happening. In order to follow their clues and confirm their suspicions they seek out the mystically hidden, nearly mythical Troll market.

Events unspool from there and we learn that they have to go to Ireland because that his where they mystical portal is that grants access to The Golden Army.

I'm omitting some elements but want to save the finale from you in my review. I really liked the final fight between Hellboy and the Prince. The setting and sequence were a real thrill to watch. I will say that I think the one thing keeping me from making this movie on par with Iron Man, which I gave an A grade, is that the full threat promised of the Golden Army never is really explored as a threat to mankind. We get glimpses in that final act but i think had something happened to make The Golden Army a bigger threat to mankind it would've been that much better. Although before Hellboy fights the Prince he and his B.P.R.D. comrades have a good fight with the golden army and the armies power is evident.

There is also a spoiler about Liz that is worth saving for the film. But if you got to know I will code this.

Liz is pregnant....with twins!

A great comedy scene that is timed perfectly admist the chaos in the movie comes about mid point of the film. Two Words: Barry Manilow!

This is a good movie and deserves to not get lost in the shuffle after The Dark Knight hits. Check it out!

I plan on seeing this with a friend Saturday night after I get off work. I thought the first one was fun and absolutely loved Pan's Labyrinth, so I'll see anything del Toro does from this point forward. Really looking forward to seeing this.

As my previous post said, I had been planning on seeing it Saturday night, but I received a phone call from a friend yesterday who wants to go to the midnight premiere, so I'll be headed to the theater tonight.

I was at the free screening Tuesday night at Mann's Chinese 6 in L.A. and, aside from making us sit in the first three rows (the rest were reserved for press), it absolutely rocked!
Now I have to see it again if only just to be able to sit further back.

The trailer was stunning and I can say I am definitely interested in seeing this. Del Toro's work is masterful, even though a couple of his creatures looked as if they just climbed the walls out of "Pan's Labyrinth". One thing though.... how important do you suppose it would be to have seen the original "Hellboy" ?

One thing though.... how important do you suppose it would be to have seen the original "Hellboy" ?

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Not very important at all.
They give a brief 2 minute recap of how Hellboy came to be here, on Earth and then jump to scene with him as boy and the movie rolls on from there. There is one brief mention of 1 character from the first movie for about 10 seconds but really seeing HB:1 is not a prerequisite at all.
Del Torro has not laid this out like Nolan has with Batman so your good to go and not worry about feeling lost.

The commentaries - both cast and director, etc - are one of the biggest reasons for me to get a more developed DVD set even if I already have a "bare bones" version. What struck me about the trailer here is the sheer beauty of del Toro's vision. All of these creatures looked incredibly fantastic, in a way I haven't seen from others like Peter Jackson or others. Don't mistake me here... I love PJ's vision in the LOTR movies, but it's nice to see fantasy expressed in a visually very different way.

The commentaries - both cast and director, etc - are one of the biggest reasons for me to get a more developed DVD set even if I already have a "bare bones" version. What struck me about the trailer here is the sheer beauty of del Toro's vision. All of these creatures looked incredibly fantastic, in a way I haven't seen from others like Peter Jackson or others. Don't mistake me here... I love PJ's vision in the LOTR movies, but it's nice to see fantasy expressed in a visually very different way.

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Agreed on both counts. Part of the reason I'm looking forward to The Hobbit, I'm really curious as to what del Toro will bring to the table.

The first Hellboy film is also worth seeing. It's a solid superhero film with a likeable lead and some del Toro flair. Am anticipating this film, it's released later this month here.

Okay, I haven't seen HB II yet, but in the spirit of keeping the forum uncluttered with too many threads on one topic, I have a request.

Over on the Hellboy II website, there is a beautiful wallpaper of the truly awesome Angel of Death from the movie. For some reason, I can't access the downloads portion of the site on my laptop, though I was able to on my wife's computer...before it went on the fritz.

So, could someone go to the site and download the wallpaper, then post it here as a link? I'd like the 1280.

And this isn't just for me. If you've seen the flick or just snippets of the Angel of Death in the previews, you'll want to make this your new wallpaper. Trust me.